Adjustable Bench Stop

Whenever I have to smooth a panel with a hand plane or belt sander, you'll find me stationed at the workbench. And for years I relied on a simple stop board clamped to the end of the bench to keep the workpiece in place. Well, to make a long story short, I finally grew tired of the hassle of positioning and clamping the stop every time it was needed and I resolved to find a more convenient solution.

The adjustable end stop you see in the drawings at right is what I came up with. As you can see, the stop has a pair of angled slots intersected by a series of stepped vertical slots. Gently tightened lag screws allow you to easily adjust the stop to the correct height by positioning it in the appropriate set of vertical slots. Or you can drop the stop below the surface of the benchtop, as also shown.